Beach-goers slam sewage warnings

By Angie Brown
Edinburgh and East reporter, BBC Scotland news website

Connor and Derek Smith were oblivious to the signs at Portobello

Beach-goers and dog-walkers have hit out at the lack of warning and safety measures following the "catastrophic failure" of a sewage pump in Edinburgh.

Hundreds of people failed to notice small warning signs along the Forth coastline telling them to steer clear of the contaminated waters.

People complained the A4 signs were barely visible, with most walking straight past them unnoticed.

Council officials said they had done everything possible to alert people.

Derek Smith, 55, a taxi driver from Corstorphine, said he was oblivious to the sewage dangers while out with his grandson, Connor Smith, 9, at Portobello Beach on Sunday.

He said: "My grandson has been digging a hole in the sand but I will tell him to stop now.

There has been a catastrophic failure to one of the pumps at Seafield John Rae Scottish Water

"This is ridiculous because I didn't see any signs when we came down onto the beach."

After a sign was pointed out to Mr Smith, he said: "The size of the sign is out of order. It is far too small for anyone to notice.

"I am very concerned we have been playing in the sand oblivious to the fact all this sewage has leaked into the sea just a few hundred yards along the shore."

The A4-sized warning sign on Portobello Beach

Sara Edmonds, 28, an Edinburgh student and her friend Aileen Holland, 27, who was visiting from London, said they too had failed to see the warning signs.

Ms Edmonds said: "We had no idea there had been any sewage leak and were actually heading down to the water's edge to go paddling because it has turned into such a warm sunny day.

"It is very irresponsible not to make the signs more obvious and seems to me that they are embarrassed by what has happened.

"When something like this happens there is no room for embarrassment. They need to have huge signs up and have the main streets leading down to the beach closed off.

"We will be leaving the beach now and rearranging our plans because of this."

Andrew Smith said he was concerned his dog would be sick

Andrew Smith, 51, from Silverknowes, said: "We have been out here walking our dog because we didn't see any signs and nobody has warned us about the leak.

"We haven't smelt anything or seen anything, which would have alerted us to there being a problem.

"This is a concern because the dog could be sick as a result and my wife is in her bare feet."

John Rae, Scottish Water customer operations general manager, said: "We apologise. There has been a catastrophic failure to one of the pumps at Seafield. It is a large pump, which weighs 10 tonnes and services about 25% of Edinburgh's sewage.

"Liquid sewage is spilling through an emergency overflow. It should essentially stop spilling by 2100 BST on Sunday."